Leading Public Health Groups Deliver Letter to Governor Calling On Him To Keep Casinos Smokefree

American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network -- American Heart Association

American Lung Association -- Americans for Nonsmokers’ Rights

Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids -- New Jersey Prevention Network

May 25, 2021

Hon. Phil Murphy, Governor

State of New Jersey

Trenton, NJ 08625

Dear Governor Murphy,

I'm writing today to ask you to stand up for the health of New Jersey residents by keeping New Jersey casinos smoke-free.

For fifteen years the more than 22,000 casino employees in New Jersey were some of, if not the only, workers in New Jersey still exposed to the dangers of secondhand smoke each day at their workplace.  That is until you took a stand for their health and prohibited smoking in casino as part of your COVID-19 emergency order in July 2020.

The facts behind that decision are clear. There simply is no safe level of exposure to secondhand smoke. Secondhand smoke has more than 7,000 chemicals, including at least 70 that can cause cancer. Adding to the risk, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, being a current or former cigarette smoker increases your risk of severe illness from COVID-19 because smoking impairs lung function, making it harder for the body to fight off coronaviruses and other respiratory diseases. 

You acknowledged these facts when you prohibited smoking indoors in casinos while authorizing casinos to reopen statewide in July 2020 and again when you authorized people who currently smoke to have early access to the COVID-19 vaccines in New Jersey.

For nearly a year, casino workers and patrons have been breathing fresh air while working in and gaming at New Jersey’s many casinos. Meanwhile, New Jersey casinos are thriving even with the continued prohibition of smoking. According to the American Gaming Association, first quarter 2021 casino revenue in New Jersey is up 30% over the same time in 2019 and 32% over 2020. The facts are undeniable. Prohibiting smoking in casinos is both good for business and good for public health. 

More and more casinos nationwide are going smokefree. According to  Americans for Nonsmoker’s Rights (ANR), at least 160 sovereign Tribal gaming venues[i] have implemented 100% smoke-free policies during COVID-19, in addition 21 states along with Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands, have laws in effect that require all state-regulated gambling to be 100% to be smoke-free indoors, and nearly 1,100 gaming properties do not permit smoking indoors.

As the COVID-19 crisis begins to slow and you consider removing restrictions on the public and on businesses, we urge you to not go backward on public health. We respectfully ask that you keep in place the emergency prohibition on smoking indoors in casinos and work with the Legislature to pass A4541/S1878 and make them permanently smoke-free.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends that all businesses and employers maintain a tobacco-free workplace that protects those in workplaces from involuntary, secondhand exposure to tobacco smoke.[ii]

Section 4 of New Jersey A5777/S3820, which provides for the termination of the COVID-19 public health emergency, grants you the authority to “keep the implementation of any applicable recommendations of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to prevent or limit the transmission of COVID-19, including in specific settings.”

Doing so will ensure that casino employees continue to have the same protections as other workers in our state and casino patrons can continue to enjoy all that our casinos have to offer without worrying about breathing in dangerous levels of smoke. No one should have to choose between their job and their health, and no one should be forced to gamble with their health while enjoying all that our casinos have to offer.